Corporation - Our Board

Start of Service: 16 October 2019

Gill is the Chair of Governors at The College of West Anglia.  She also serves on the Search and Governance Committee and the Remuneration Committee.  Gill takes a special interest in Safeguarding at the college and sits on the Safeguarding Oversight Committee.

Gill is a qualified teacher.  She also has a degree, having studied with the Open University.

Gill has worked in a range of public sector roles.  She has been a middle school teacher, has worked in governance and housing for the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and then for Freebridge Community Housing.  Gill was Company Secretary at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, until her retirement from full-time paid employment in 2020.

Gill also currently serves as the vice-chair on the Board of Freebridge Community Housing.

Start of Service: 6 December 2017

Chris is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation, Chair of the Performance and Quality Review Committee and a member of the Search and Governance Committee.

Chris is a qualified teacher (B.Ed hons Bath University), holds a Masters Degree (Brikberk College, University of London) and Diploma in Management Studies.

Currently retired, Chris has 23 years’ experience of working in the FE sector in roles from lecturer to senior manager for Staff and Quality services, previously he taught in the Secondary School sector. Prior to working in the education sectors Chris worked in the Banking industry.

Experience of delivery and quality improvement in FE was gained through his senior leadership role at Bridgwater College where he was the Ofsted nominee.

Start of Service: 3 July 2019

Dave is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation, Chair of the Search and Governance committee and Vice Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. He is also a link Governor to the Careers and Destinations Manager and the Head of Learning Experience including the LRC. He is also Director of CWA Enterprises Ltd.

Dave is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He is mainly now retired but retains the role of Non-Executive Director to local company, Haven Books Ltd.

Dave spent the majority of his career in Financial Director roles with local, national and international companies in several sectors including manufacturing, publishing and chemicals. He has also had periods in General Management. His responsibilities in addition to Finance have included HR, IT, property management and Pensions serving as Chair of the Trustees for two pension schemes.

Dave started his career by studying for an HNC in Business Studies at CWA and as such is aware first hand of the vital role that the college plays in the local community.

As well as his accountancy qualification Dave has a Masters Degree in Administration (MBA) from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Start of Service: 5 July 2023

Sharon is a co-opted member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Sharon qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2000 with Larking Gowen, a mid-tier firm. After moving to Mapus-Smith & Lemmon in 2007, she was admitted to the partnership in 2010.  Sharon has specialised in audit since the late 90s for a variety of sectors including not for profit and is the audit compliance partner for Mapus-Smith & Lemmon LLP. As well as being responsible for audit in the firm, she is also responsible for training.

Start of Service: 22 February 2024

Jan is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation and a member of the Performance Review & Quality Committee.

Jan is the Head of Employment & Skills at Norfolk County Council and her portfolio covers, employability and access to the labour market, geographically based projects to support young people aged 16-24, Apprenticeships Norfolk, Norfolk and Suffolk Careers Hub, Adult Skills and workforce upskilling. Jan has extensive networks and contacts having worked in the sector for over 20 years and has vast experience in strategy development and implementation and skills development to support economic growth and social mobility

Jan has a master’s degree in strategic leadership and management of education from the Open University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education Management from Anglia Ruskin University.

Start of Service: 6 December 2023

Paul is Staff Governor for the College of West Anglia Corporation and is a member of the Performance, Review and Quality Committee.

Paul is Programme Manager for Creative Arts. He oversees the day to day running of four creative teaching departments – Music, Media, Performing Arts and Art & Design.

Paul started at the College as a Teaching Support Officer before becoming a full-time lecturer within the Art and Design department. Developing his career through CWA means that he has a strong knowledge of many aspects of the College. Paul has a passion for student support and promoting the creative outcomes of his learners. He has a BA (Hons) in Textile Design from University of Derby.

Start of Service: 3 July 2019

Ray is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and a member of the Search and Governance Committee, he is also the link governor for the Milton and Wisbech sites.

Following his retirement as Chief Executive of the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk Ray has taken on a number of voluntary/non-executive roles, he chairs the Local Governing Board of Witchford Village College and Vista Academy, he is Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Greyhound Trust, and a Trustee of the Cambridge Victoria Homes Alms House Trust. A keen runner Ray takes part in the GEAR 10k race in King's Lynn every year, and also volunteers at his local branch of the Greyhound Trust

Ray is an Economics graduate and achieved a distinction in his MSc in Management and Organisation.

Start of Service: 11 October 2023

Seb is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation, and member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Seb is an ICAEW qualified Accounting and Audit professional with a first-class degree in Business Management. His current role is focused on driving transformation and change across PwC’s UK Audit Practice. Prior to his current role, Seb spent four years in PwC audit in Cambridge, gaining experience in a wide range of sectors such as Insurance, Biotech, and Public owned entities. Additionally, Seb has a number of years’ experience in Retail banking.

Seb has a level 7 Accountancy Professional Apprenticeship, in addition to his membership of the ICAEW and BSC (Hons) in Business Management from Aberystwyth University.

Start of Service: 1 March 2024

Russel is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation.  He is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Russel is a construction industry professional, delivering large, technically complex, high value and high-profile infrastructure projects for HMG via the defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO). Before joining DIO Russel had a long career in the UK armed forces specialising in construction and facility management.

Russel has educational awards in Management and Engineering. He is a member of the Association for Project Managers and Chartered Institute of Management, and also a Certified Member of the Institute of Welfare and Facility Management.

Start of Service: 29 March 2023

Fliss is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation and Vice Chair of the Performance Review and Quality Committee.

Fliss is currently the Director of Skills at South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and is responsible for the regions approach to skills and employment support, managing a devolved budget of c£60m per annum. She was previously the Assistant Director of Employment and Skills at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayoral Combined Authority. Prior to that Fliss has spent 20 years working in higher and further education.

Fliss has an MBA from the University of Durham and a BA from the University of West London.

Start of Service: 17 March 2021

Sally is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation, Chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Search and Governance Committee.

Sally has recently retired from a long career in Human Resources.  She worked for PwC in London and led many different teams over her career, specialising in Employee Relations, HR Operations, HR Outsourcing and HR Technology in particular.  As a member of the senior HR team, she reported direct to the Executive Board and also took on many mediation, coaching and mentoring responsibilities.  Sally started her career in technology and human resources consulting.

Sally has a Post Graduate Diploma in Coaching from Henley Business School and an MBA from Cranfield Business School, as well as a BA (Hons) in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham.

Start of Service: 11 July 2007

David is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation and is a member of all committee, with the exception of the Audit and Risk Committee.

David holds qualifications in business & management, education and finance and is an experienced FE leader.  He has been in his current post for over 17 years, having previously been Principal of a smaller college for 4 years and held management posts in 2 other colleges.  Prior to taking up his current post, David gained further private sector experience, leading the financial benchmarking service across FE for the Tribal Group. 

Under David’s leadership, the college has prioritised curriculum development to meet the needs of local and regional employers. 

CWA recently opened a School of Nursing Studies and Green Skills Centre.  CWA has achieved many awards for engagement with employers and apprenticeship provision.  Recent success includes becoming the first ever UK college to achieve the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award for a second time.

David represents the college on a number of external bodies including chairing the Association of Colleges WorldSkills UK Reference Group, and CWA has a strong track record of success in WorldSkills competitions.   

David is proud to have developed and empowered a strong team. He has strong financial management skills and much experience of managing infrastructure developments.   

Start of Service: 17 March 2021

Carolyn is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation and is Vice Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Carolyn has over 30 years of experience across public and private enterprises in technology, science, and medicine. Her current responsibilities include Non-Executive Chair of AIM quoted diagnostics business Cambridge Nutritional Sciences plc and Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee Chair and member of the Renumeration Committee of AIM-quoted global technology business PCI Pal plc.

Previously Carolyn’s positions included: Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit Committee of AIM Quoted Technology Business IQGeo plc, CFO of AIM Listed Banking Technology Business Bango plc, CEO of Cambridge Biotech Business Isogenica and CCO of the global secretariat Birdlife.

Carolyn is a Fellow and prior Region Chair of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and Fellow of the Chartered Managers Institute.

Start of Service: 22 January 2024

Eva is a Student Governor and member of the College of West Anglia Corporation and is currently studying Level 3 Art & Design (Second Year).

As a Student Governor, Eva attends the Corporation meetings and presents the issues and ways to help the College now and in the future from a student viewpoint. Eva also attends monthly student representative/student voice meetings and ensures that all the issues raised at these meetings are properly recorded and acted upon.

Start of Service: 1 March 2024

Gemma is a member of the College of West Anglia governing board, and a link governor to both Higher Education (HE) and Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committees.

Gemma is a widening participation expert, focusing on inclusion and representation of marginalised groups in HE. Gemma holds a first-class master’s in social science research methods and is currently employed at the University of East Anglia working with mature students. She has worked in university Outreach and Widening Participation for 8 years and has over 4 years governance experience within the west of Norfolk. As someone who grew up and received a lot of her education in King’s Lynn, Gemma is passionate about the opportunities and growth areas available to people locally and is a keen egalitarian.

Gemma has a BA (Hons) in Film and TV studies, an MRes in Social Science Research and is currently completing a part-time PhD at the University of East Anglia. Gemma’s current research looks at continuation in HE.

Start of Service: 17 March 2021

Hein is a member of the College of West Anglia Corporation, Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee and a member of the Search and Governance Committee, as well as Remuneration Committee. He chairs two ad-hoc committees (Property Steering Group, and the New Finance System Task and Finish Group).

Hein was born and raised in the Netherlands. He has had an international Finance career with Shell for 28 years. In 2016 he and his family moved to Norwich. He holds part-time non-executive positions at NHS Norfolk & Waveney (vice chair, chair Finance Committee) and Broadland Housing Association (chair Audit and Risk).

Hein obtained his doctorandus (MSc) degree in Econometrics and Operational Research from Tilburg University.

Start of Service: 14 October 2020

Donna is a Staff Governor for the College of West Anglia Corporation and is a Member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Donnas is Programme Manager for Animal Care & Dog Grooming overseeing all curriculum and resource areas. She oversees the curriculum planning, staff & students within this area, timetabling and development of this area including day to day matters.

Prior to working at CWA Donna worked in animal welfare and rescue as Team Lead within the Dog Section. From this I started as a lecturer in Animal Management and worked my way up to Programme Manager at CWA.

Donna has a passion for everything animals and providing the qualifications and support to develop students for future careers within animal care & dog grooming. She has Animal Management qualifications at Level 3 and BA degree in Education (ARU).

Start of Service: 20 March 2024

Joe is a member of the College of West Anglia corporation, member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee and Property Steering Group.

Joe qualified as a solicitor in September 2016, having trained at a top 100 law firm in London.   Joe specialises in commercial property and currently works at a firm in North Norfolk.   Joe has dealt with a variety of property work during his time as a solicitor, giving him a wealth of experience to draw upon for property related matters.

Joe has a 1^st class law degree from Exeter University and passed his Legal Practice Course with distinction at BPP university.  

Start of Service: 5 December 2022

Jules is the Head of Governance at the College of West Anglia. She has worked in the FE sector for over 10 years now but has a career in governance roles in charity, further education and multi academy trust settings spanning over 20 years. Her role at the college is to support the board of governors and provide independent advice and guidance.